United States election campaign, most expensive ever

Sign the petition telling Donald Trump to put people in his cabinet who haven’t given him piles of cash. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.

“Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary is industrialist Wilbur Ross, who has amassed a fortune of $2.5 billion through decades at the helm of Rothschild’s bankruptcy practice and his own investment firm, according to Forbes.

Ross’ would-be deputy at the Commerce Department, Todd Ricketts, is the son of a billionaire and the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs.

Betsy DeVos, a Michigan billionaire who was named as Trump’s education secretary, is the daughter-in-law of Richard DeVos, the co-founder of Amway. Her family has a net worth of $5.1 billion, according to Forbes.

Elaine Chao, the choice for transportation secretary, is the daughter of a shipping magnate. It is a group that has long spent big to influence politics.

Mnuchin, Ross and DeVos each made hundreds of thousands of dollars of political contributions within the last two years, according to OpenSecrets.org. In Ross’ Manhattan office, next to a window overlooking Central Park, there is a table filled with pictures of Ross with candidates to whom he has contributed, including John A. Boehner, Michael Bloomberg and Bill Clinton.”

When the fundraising numbers for all 24 Democrats are reported next week to the Federal Election Commission, the total is certain to exceed the $105 million that the Trump reelection campaign claimed for its second quarter total. That figure included $54 million to the campaign itself and $51 million to the Republican National Committee.

The stage is being set for the most expensive election campaign in the history of the United States, and the world, with $10 billion to be spent on advertising presidential, congressional, gubernatorial and state legislative candidates in all the 2020 contests, according to a forecast by GroupM, the ad-buying unit of WPP, cited last month by the Wall Street Journal.

The trend line is steadily upward from presidential election to presidential election: $3.1 billion in 2008, $4.3 billion in 2012, $6.3 billion in 2016, and a projected $9.9 billion in 2020. That figure could well prove to be a low estimate, since a staggering $8.7 billion was spent in 2018, a mid-term election without the president on the ballot.

Trump alone is expected to raise between $2 billion and $2.5 billion for his reelection campaign, double the amount raised by President Obama in 2012 and by Hillary Clinton in 2016, and four times what Trump himself raised in 2016.

Despite placing a distant fifth in most polls—the latest one had him at only 5 percent of likely Democratic primary voters—his campaign raised $24.8 million in the second quarter, the most of any Democrat. While 230,000 people donated to his campaign, much of the money came in through 50 high-dollar fundraisers at which Buttigieg met with prospective donors.

Biden followed with $21.5 million, a considerable sum, but only a second-place showing behind a comparative political unknown. A total of 256,000 people donated to his campaign. Kamala Harris reported raising $12 million from 279,000 donors, with a late surge thanks to the media applause for her debate performance. She also raised $12 million in the first quarter, before Biden entered the race, mainly from traditional big donors.

Another “moderate”, Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, reported raising $2.5 million since entering the race in May. Montana Governor Steve Bullock raised $2 million over the same period, while former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper raised only $1 million in the entire quarter, and was said to be considering ending his campaign.

The second category of Democratic fundraising includes Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren, both of whom relied almost entirely on small donations raised over the internet. Warren has taken a public position against participating in high-dollar fundraising events where wealthy people spend $2,700 apiece to hobnob with the candidate. Sanders has no formal pledge, but spends no time on such events, having raised more than $200 million online to fund his 2016 presidential campaign.

Warren and Sanders reported similar figures, $19.1 million and $18 million, respectively, with the average Warren donation $28, from 384,000 donors, and the average Sanders donation $18 from nearly one million donors. Warren’s total was nearly triple what she raised in the first quarter, while Sanders essentially duplicated the $18 million he raised in February and March after declaring his candidacy.

Donor totals are one of the two metrics, along with opinion poll results, used by the Democratic National Committee to determine which candidates qualify for televised debates. The requirement for the first debate in Miami and the second in Detroit, in late July, was either 65,000 donors or at least 1 percent in a series of polls. The requirement for the third debate, to be held in Cleveland in September, will be both 130,000 donors and at least 2 percent in several polls. The higher hurdle is expected to eliminate more than half of the 24 “major” candidates seeking to qualify for the debates.

Meanwhile, Representative Eric Swalwell became the first Democrat to drop out of the presidential contest—seven months before the first votes are cast—announcing Monday that he would instead seek reelection to the House of Representatives. Swalwell barely qualified for the Miami debate and was expected to lose his spot in Detroit to Montana Governor Steve Bullock, a late entry into the race.

4 thoughts on “United States election campaign, most expensive ever”

Trump is already ramping up fundraising for the 2020 elections. And with this kind of cash flow, Trump is planning for his second inauguration.

According to GOP insiders, Trump could raise over $2 billion for his re-election campaign – QUADRUPLE what he raised in 2016. If predictions are true, Trump will DOUBLE what President Obama had for his re-election.

This would mean more funding for his hate-filled rallies. More ads attacking Democrats. And without a doubt, more money to his allies in the states.